Date: 6 August 1940
- Weather: Generally cloudy with fairly strong winds. Cloud ceiling 3,000 - 5,000 ft.
- Day: Little activity
- Night: Minelaying off east and south-east coasts.
Enemy action by day
Enemy activity was on a small scale. In the early morning the RAF station at Llandow was bombed.
An enemy aircraft reconnoitring shipping was shot down off Lowestoft.
A number of individual raids were plotted along the South and East Coasts. Misty weather and cloud conditions made interceptions difficult.
South and West
One enemy aircraft crossed the South Coast near Portland and flew to South Wales where it bombed the RAF station at Llandow. There was a ground fog in places and some haze; conditions which accounted for the failure to intercept. Damage caused to the station was slight and there were no casualties.
Nine raids of single aircraft or small formations were plotted off the South Coast between Dungeness and Portland and in mid-Channel. Fighters sent up to intercept some of these raids failed to do so since cloud and mist favoured the enemy's tactics.
South East and East
At about 0630 hours No 85 Squadron (Hurricanes) intercepted and claim one Do17 (confirmed). This enemy aircraft had reported the position of a convoy east of Lowestoft.
No 72 Squadron (Spitfires) intercepted one He111 off Blyth (Northumberland) and chased it out to sea.
Individual raids were plotted off Harwich and the Humber. Fighters sighted one Ju88 off Flamborough Head which evaded combat in favourable cloud conditions.
France
During the afternoon enemy patrols were plotted in the Calais area.
By night
Despite the fact that our own aircraft reported low haze and poor visibility in the south east, enemy activity has been exceptionally light overland.
The usual raids developed off East Anglia, but few were plotted crossing inland. Minelaying or attempts to intercept our outgoing bombers is suspected.
About twelve raids flew from the Cherbourg area to the West Country. Some appeared to lay mines off the Cornish coast. Of the others, one was plotted as far as Liverpool Bay and back, and the rest operated in the Bristol Channel area.
A few raids were plotted from Norway towards North East Scotland, and two crossed inland in the Firth of Forth area.
Other minelaying is suspected in the Thames Estuary and Beachy Head to Isle of Wight areas.
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Statistics
Fighter Command Serviceable Aircraft as at 0900 hours, 6 August 1940
- Blenheim - 67
- Spitfire - 257
- Hurricane - 370
- Defiant - 23
- Total – 717
Casualties:
- Enemy: Fighter - nil; Bombers - 1 Do17 confirmed (by No 85 Squadron)
- Own: Nil.
Patrols:
- 134 patrols despatched involving 438 aircraft.
Balloons:
- Flying 1505. Casualties 38.
Aerodromes:
- Usworth - obstruction on west boundary of north-south runway.
Organisation:
Air Intelligence Reports
- A Portuguese writes from Lisbon: "From accounts of people returned from Germany things are in a very bad way indeed. The R.A.F. raids are causing terrible damage. The Huns need more of this kind of thing to show them who are the masters of the air. They must be blown off the face of the earth."
Home Security Reports
- Date: 5th/6th August 1940
- General Summary
- Early in the morning of the 6th August, enemy aircraft visited Glamorganshire and, at about midday, Northumberland, otherwise there was no activity until shortly after midnight when South Wales and Scotland were visited.
- Detailed Summary
- Llandrow RAF station was bombed at 0540 hours on 6th August, when damage was done to a hangar and two aircraft on the landing ground.
- Further to the bombing of Gustom at 2210 hours on 5th August, it is now reported that a searchlight was extinguished and two of the crew injured.